Boy Scouts experience outdoors

Boy Scout Troop 1923 from Bigfork spent last week living on Melita Island earning merit badges and enjoying time in the outdoors.

"We went last year also and these were some of the best two weeks of my life," said Zach Moore, who was one of the Boy Scouts on the retreat. "The staff was great and it is just beautiful there."

The Boy Scouts earn five merit badges while on the trip. They get to choose which five they attempt from a list of about 25, most of which are water-based.

"I liked the water activities. We got to go out on a boat and go on water skis or a wake board and just have fun," Moore said. "We also went out sailing and were able to go way out on the (Flathead) Lake."

Bigfork's Boy Scouts weren't the only troop taking full advantage of the island. Troops from all over the country joined them form the week of outdoor activities.

"It's good experience for us to meet other people from other states," Moore said.

While on the island the boys do more than just play on the water. As with all of their functions they are in charge of making sure everything at the campsite is taken care of including meals and cleaning.

"The boys run the camps and the chaperones are just there to keep them between the lines," said Dan Paine, committee chairman for Troop 1923. "The boys are pretty much responsible for everything that needs done at the camp."

There are also other enjoyable activities for the Boy Scouts, though, including troop competition. That started with an outdoor knowledge test and was followed by a challenge in which someone would jump in the water and yell "peanut butter" and then someone would jump in and save them. If the boys said "help," the lifeguard had to save them. Troop 1923 earned a C+ on their knowledge test, but took first place in the water life saving game.

The water portion of the troop competition was concluded with a boat relay. Each team had four people on it, two of which were in a canoe and the other two were each in their own kayak. The boys did well until they flipped and submerged the canoe which caused them to have to restart the race.

Later the boys tried out different types of shooting sports.

They competed in archery and shot for score and then did an air rifle contest in which the objective was to try to shoot a group of pellets tight enough so a dime could cover the group.

Boy Scout Kegan Driver said they did "OK" at the archery and "pretty well" with the rifle shooting too.

The next challenge in the troop competition was a team building exercise where the Boy Scouts had one person with a "magical" pair of shoes that entitled them to walk around freely and they had to get everyone else to the other side without leaving anyone behind.

"We aced that," Driver said.

The final challenge was timed knot tying in which they had to tie six knots as fast as they could.

"The whole trip is such a great experience for them," Paine said. "It is so fun. They get to camp right on the water with a view of the Mission Mountains. They have a great time and they learn a lot too."